


I don't want you like a best friend

by generalsnips



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Battlefront (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 04:47:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20960705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/generalsnips/pseuds/generalsnips
Summary: She felt a pang of guilt in her stomach. It was not right to be drinking wine from a planet that had been destroyed by the Empire, on Empire Day.





	1. secret moments in a crowded room

**Author's Note:**

> This is very much inspired by Dress by Taylor Swift  
I wrote this 2 years ago and posted it on tumblr. I had every intention of uploading it here but apparently I forgot. Better late than never lol ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Iden watched Hask navigated the busy ballroom with two glasses of Alderaanian wine in one hand and a glass of whisky in the other. He carefully manoeuvred around the group of drunk officers socializing without spilling a drop. When he reached the table where his very fancy looking teammates sat he said, “Have you guys noticed how we are the best dressed here?”

Del rose up to meet his friend, “Well actually I was too distracted of how good you looked in that suit” he said as he took the two wine glasses from Hask's hand and passed one to Iden who was sitting beside him.

“You’re right Del, I am distractingly good looking in this suit.”

Iden laughed and rolled her eyes at her friend's banter. It wasn’t uncommon for the group to be hanging out and drinking off duty, but it wasn’t very often that they were so relaxed about it. There was this light, airy feeling surrounding them and Iden wasn’t complaining. The past couple months had been really stressful for all of them, one too many missions that went off the tracks, a few too many close calls for all of them, and way too many injuries spread out over three people had really taken its toll. Iden was thankful that it was Empire Day and they could sit back and enjoy each other's company without worrying about what to do next.

She looked down at the bubbly teal drink that was handed to her. Alderaanian wine. The same wine that she and her squad shared that first night they were a team. It was a rare find these days, and yet she wasn’t surprised that the Empire had a few bottles. It felt wrong drinking it, not that she was complaining, Alderaan knew how to make good wine. She felt a pang of guilt in her stomach. It was not right to be drinking wine from a planet that had been destroyed by the Empire, on Empire Day. All the innocent lives that had been taken that day two years ago, Iden thought that that the destruction of Alderaan was a mistake. Sure they had taken out plenty of rebels, but at what cost?  
She felt a hand on her thigh. She looked up and saw that Del was staring intently at her, he knew exactly what she was thinking. Of course, he had, she thought, the same thing probably crossed his mind. Del and she had bonded over not agreeing with what everything the Empire did, that was their thing between them. Hask could never understand that. His love for the Empire ran deep and pure. Dels look told her to stop thinking about what she was thinking and to enjoy the party. She reached underneath the table and grabbed his hand. Taking a breath, she took a sip of her drink and forced herself to remain present at the moment.

A couple of speeches had passed and so did a few drinks. Iden got up from her seat and headed toward the bar to get more wine. When the bartender handed her the bubbly teal drink, she moved outside. It was a warm evening, the sun was just beginning to set. They were on the upper levels of Coruscant, and the setting sun had backlit the skyline of the city making it look like it should belong on a postcard. Leaning on the railing, she took a sip of the wine. The smooth taste of the alcohol had helped calm her nerves earlier. Her first instinct was to down the whole drink, and get pissed-face drunk just for the hell of it but all the Imperial officers around her let her think differently. We are guests here, she thought. Although a nice buzz wouldn’t be out of place. She took a generous sip of her drink when she felt somebody come beside her and join her. Immediately she knew it was Del.

“It’s weird,” she began, “this,” she gestured to her drink. She had to be quiet about what she was saying. This was not the time nor the place where you disagree with the decisions the Empire has made.

“I know, I feel like its an odd choice,” he reassured her, “But that is not something you should be thinking about right now. You should be basking in the glory of the Empire,” Iden nearly laughed, “Enjoy tonight. We don’t have to be Inferno Squad right now. We can be just us. Iden and Del. You and I.”

Iden stared at her drink, she took one last sip of it before setting it down. She turned to face Del, a smile toying on her lips, “You and I? Are you’re it’s not you and me?”

“Iden, no don’t start this again.”

“But it's you and me.”

“No Iden—” Iden reached up with her hand, grabbed Del's face and kissed him before he could finish. Surprised, Del froze. He quickly realized what was happening and kissed her back, sliding a hand down her waist. It by no means was their first kiss, there had been plenty of those before on missions. All of the Inferno Squadron had kissed each other at some point in order to keep a mission from failing. But this was different, this was Iden and Del. This was a kiss between them, not as Imperial agents. She could feel Del smiling against her lips as she began to deepen the kiss—

“Are sunsets always like this on Coruscant, Del?” Hask asked, genuinely curious. He was coming up behind them from inside the ballroom.

Iden and Del immediately broke apart. Iden bit the inside of checks to conceal her smile and she looked away hoping to hide the flush of her checks. Del rubbed the back of his head awkwardly with his hand, “Uh-what? Sorry I-uh-didn’t catch that?”

“You grew up here right? Has the sunset always been like this? It’s really beautiful,”

“Um. Yes, Hask, sunsets don’t often change,” Del said awkwardly, watching the man come over and join them leaning on the railing.

Iden focused her attention on the potted plant next to them. Had Hask caught them? It probably wasn’t wise kissing someone in the middle of a party. It seemed like a good idea at the time… Would he report them? She listened in on their conversation, Hask was asking Del about Coruscant. If he saw what happened, why didn’t he just flat out say it? She bought her drink to her lips and finished it. This could be a long evening.


	2. they've got no idea about me and you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more wine and kissing, if that's your thing.

Handing her empty glass to a nearby server droid, she headed inside towards the bar. Normally Iden didn’t drink this much, but if there was an open bar paid for by the Empire, she was going to take advantage of it. Already at the bar was her father, waiting for his drink. As she approached, he greeted her, “Iden. How is everything this evening?”

“Hello father,” Iden was suddenly aware of how easily you could see the balcony from the bar. She looked over at Del and Hask, who were probably discussing other Coruscant related things. As she returned to her father's gaze she wondered how much had he seen? If he had seen anything at all? Deciding it was probably best to keep the small talk short she replied, “Its been enjoyable.”

Handing her another glass of Alderaanian wine, he began, “I am so glad you and your team could make it this evening. It looks good to have Inferno Squad here. You have accomplished a lot the past two years, and the Empire thanks you for that.”

“Thank you father,”

Passing her another two glasses of wine, her father added, “Please take these to Hask and Meeko,”

“Thank you.” That was the closest to a congratulation she was going to get from her father. With her friends' drinks in one hand and her own in the other, she headed back towards the balcony.

She neared the rest of her squad and listened to the tail end of their conversation.

“The way the sun hits the windows is incredible,” Hask admired.

“That's where Coruscant got its name,” Del began to explain, “Coruscant means to glitter or sparkle and the way the sun reflects off of surfaces they thought it would be appropriate to name it.” Hask nodded approvingly.

“I have some wine here, courtesy of my father,” Iden interrupted. Hask grabbed one of the glasses. Del reached for the other one, his hand lingering a second too long.

“What do you mean ‘courtesy of your father’? It’s an open bar,” Del joked.

“I mean, he handed me the drinks and said they were for you.”

The group joked and laughed about their past missions, making idle conversations with one another. It wasn’t until the cool breeze on Iden’s bare shoulders making her shiver that she realized how dark it had gotten. The fireworks would be starting soon, she thought. Hask excused himself to go and meet up with some officers that he knew.

Failing to hide a yawn, Iden wrapped her arms around hoping to provide warmth for herself. Wearing a dress seemed like a smart idea earlier that day.

“Are you tired already?” Del asked.

“Versio’s don’t get tired,” Iden stated, yawing again. They may have the evening free from work, but they did have an intention mission last night, and Iden didn’t get a lot of sleep. The alcohol wasn’t helping either. She was stuck in the state of sleepy drunk, “I was thinking of heading back up to the room, where it is warm,” she hugged herself tighter.

“Are you sure? The fireworks will be starting soon.”

“Yes, also I am pretty sure we can see the fireworks from our room.”

“I’ll go with you.”

***

When the door of the hotel suite shut behind them Iden kicked off her heels when Del grabbed her face and kissed her. Smiling, Iden grabbed the front of his jacket and started pulling him further into the room. She felt his hands in her hair and his body pressed up against hers. Once they bumped into the couch Iden let go of his jacket and wrapped her arms around Del’s neck. They abruptly stopped when they heard a loud bang from outside. Iden moved towards the window to see what made the noise. The buildings around them lit up with flashes of red, and then white.

“So it turns out we can’t see the fireworks from our room,” Iden said, trying to see the show but failing. The firework display would be visible from the front of the hotel, not the side their room was facing.

Del hugged her from behind and started kissing her neck, “I don’t think we would’ve seen much anyways.”

Rolling her eyes, she turned around and kissed his face. Cupping his face in her hand, she said, “Give me a minute, I need a drink” and kissed his lips one more time before heading towards the kitchen.

Del reached out and pulled Iden back to him, successfully stopping her from leaving. “Is kissing me so bad that you need another drink? I would’ve thought the ones from earlier would’ve helped.”

“Water. A drink of water,” Iden said with a laugh. With that, she turned and went towards the kitchen. Once she retrieved her water, she headed towards the couch where Del was sitting. Taking a sip of water, Iden sat down on the couch. She placed the water on the table in front of her and turned to face Del. She reached her hand out and ran her thumb over the scar on his eyebrow. It wasn’t very big, but it stopped the hair from growing. Considering the injury it came from, she was surprised it healed so well. Iden was aware of how he got it, she was there it happened but her memory was still spotty of the event. Not all missions are successful with flying colours, sometimes they get thwarted by forces beyond their control. Like a bomb that was supposed to detonate but never did. They were almost done, about to board their ship to leave when a grenade came their way. Iden wasn’t sure what exactly happened, the doctors say she had a moderate concussion. All she can remembers was a bang and a bloody Del.

“Do you remember how this happened yet?” Del said with a quirk of his eyebrow.

“No,” Iden replied, still staring at the scar.

“That’s probably for the best.”

Bringing her attention to his lips, she leaned in and kissed him again. This time it was more soft and tender. She ran her fingers through his hair, while Del pulled her closer. Iden slid a hand underneath his shirt. She felt Del’s tongue brush against her lips, moaning, she kissed him harder. It wasn’t until she was reaching to take off his shirt that Del said, “Iden wait.” She stopped. “we shouldn’t…” he began.

“I know,” she finished. Her heart sank. She rested her forehead against his, both heavily breathing. His hand stayed on her back, and hers rested on his chest. They were taught in the Academy that you don’t make friends, you make allies. Iden felt the same applied to romantic relationships.

“This can’t happen. They would never let it.” Del whispered.

Bringing her hands to his face she replied with a sigh, “I know. It was nice thinking that it could.” Looking at him in the eyes she said, “when this is all over, the war I mean, I think we should give it a shot. Me and you”

“You and I,” Del said with a sad smile. He kissed her face, “when it’s over.”

Iden ran her hand through his hair one last time. They sat there in the near silence, listening to the sparadic explosions from the fireworks outside. Then she got up and left to get ready for bed.

Life didn’t stop because they wanted it to.


End file.
